The fourth-gen Escalade will have a new engine, a new platform, and the same swagger.

What It Is: The Nextalade: The fourth generation of Cadillac’s full-size Escalade. These prototypes look just about ready for production. We can’t see the interior here, but Mark Reuss, GM’s North America president, said last year that the next Escalade’s cabin would mark a significant improvement over the current model’s interior.

Why It Matters: The Escalade is Cadillac’s de facto halo vehicle, with a higher starting price than any of its siblings and massive public awareness. Delivering more than just reputation, though, the Escalade is an immensely profitable offering for GM. Costing the company little more to design and produce than the Chevy and GMC trucks on which it is based, the Escalade still sells very well, even with little advertising. The Escalade lineup—regular truck, longer ESV, and pickup-esque EXT—has grossed more than $1 billion so far this year.

Platform: GM will change its platform nomenclature with the next generation of full-size trucks from GMT-somethinghundred to K2. The Escalade will join GMC’s next Sierra and Yukon, as well as the new Chevy Silverado, Tahoe, and Suburban on this architecture. Expect the underpinnings to allow for more space and flexibility inside the Escalade, but not much weight savings: This is a titanic luxury truck for which features are more relevant than fuel economy. Escalades once again will be offered with rear- or all-wheel drive.

With the introduction of a Lambda-based Cadillac crossover—meaning it will be related to the Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia—it’s possible that the Escalade will be offered only with the longer body from the Suburban and Yukon XL. Oh, and the extra-ridiculous EXT is dead.

Powertrain: Power will come from the next, Gen V version of GM’s small-block V-8. Compared to the current engine, the new one will add direct injection and feature a higher compression ratio. It’s possible that as a result, the engine will shrink in displacement a bit—but let’s be clear that this is still a honking, burbling V-8. Cylinder deactivation will again be among the feature set. A six-speed automatic transmission will be installed initially, but later in the Escalade’s lifetime, an eight-speed automatic will replace it.

Model Research

*AccuPayment estimates payments under various scenarios for budgeting and informational purposes only. AccuPayment does not state credit or lease terms that are available from a creditor or lessor, and AccuPayment is not an offer or promotion of a credit or lease transaction.